Winners of the M. Wynn Thomas Prize 2015 Announced

Posted on 11 March 2015

Dr Heather Williams, Research Fellow at the Centre for Advanced and Celtic Studies (CAWCS) has been announced as one of two winners of the prestigious M. Wynn Thomas Prize

Offered to celebrate outstanding scholarly work in the field of Welsh writing in English, the prize has two categories with Heather winning the ‘Open’ category and fellow scholar Jamie Harris (Aberyswyth University) winning the ‘New Scholars’ category.

The prize is awarded for a piece of substantial scholarship that is engagingly written, with submissions that are ground-breaking in terms of subject-matter and/or methodology encouraged. Topics may include all aspects of Welsh writing in English as well as the inter-relationship of Welsh writing in English with related areas (Welsh Studies, history, cultural studies, film/media studies, translation studies, performance/theatre studies, digital humanities, comparative literature etc).

The judging panel for the 2015 Prize were Dr Matthew Jarvis (Aberystwyth University/University of Wales Trinity Saint David), Dr Aidan Byrne (University of Wolverhampton) and Dr Alyce von Rothkirch (Swansea University). With submissions once again being of a very high quality, the judges found their task difficult. They felt however that the winners’ work showed exceptional scholarship as well as the willingness to explore new territory.

“It’s a great privilege to receive this award for my work on Iolo Morganwg. I hope my essay will persuade people that Iolo is an important figure in both the literatures of Wales. The work was undertaken as part of the AHRC-funded project on Wales and the French Revolution at the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, and draws on my longstanding interest in translation studies and study of cultural interfaces."

Sponsored by the University of Wales Press, each winner will receive £150 and a full set of the Library of Wales titles, published and gifted by Parthian Books.

The prize will be awarded at the annual conference of the Association of Welsh Writing in English, to be held at Gregynog Hall on the 27th - 29th of March 2015.